Crafty answer to help traders through a trailblazing initiative by the Black Isle Notice Board Facebook group
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Small businesses and craftspeople on the Black Isle are being offered a helping hand during one of the most challenging periods in living memory for many of them.
A trailblazing initiative by the Black Isle Notice Board Facebook group will this weekend see a free platform for small traders to showcase their wares and services.
The huge growth of the Black Isle Notice Board was one of the success stories of the coronavirus lockdown period in the peninsula.
Now with 4000 group members, the friendly group is an easy – and often instantaneous – way of finding a reliable plumber or reuniting a lost dog or wallet with its owner.
The group’s voluntary administration team – founder Brian Hill from Cromarty, Duncan Macleman from Avoch and Verity Walker Eley from Fortrose – now moderate all posts and keep an eye on any contentious issues which arise from time to time.
Mr Hill said: “We may not always get it right, but we aim to do our best.”
The team clocked an enormous increase in community postings from small businesses during lockdown as resourceful Black Islers took to making and selling things to help with income generation. The group, keen to support these small businesses and craftspeople in the build-up to Christmas, is making this weekend a #ShopLocalShowcase.
Black Isle artists, craftspeople and other small businesses are invited to post up to six pictures and a story of up to 150 words about their business on both Saturday and Sunday. Full instructions on how to set about this are posted within the group.
The Black Isle Noticeboard is free to join and there is no charge to post over the weekend.
Mrs Walker Eley, who co-founded the Black Isle Gathering back in 2005, said: “As a community we face a very strange Christmas where shopping online – or not shopping at all – seem like the only options. But there is also the traditional way, shopping local, direct from the producer. Small shops and small traders and suppliers are struggling to survive here.”
Mr Hill said: “Why not support them – the real people who
need your help – instead of adding to the profits of huge and anonymous companies this Christmas? Our weekend showcase will give you a chance to ‘browse’ the best of what the Black Isle has to offer and find out how to get in touch. Just follow #ShopLocalShowcase on posts and be sure to like or comment posts which impress you.”
Anyone planning joining the notice board to post or browse, is asked to ensure they tick the box agreeing to the group’s rules. The weekend is limited to Black Isle-based traders and craftspeople only, but shoppers “are welcome from everywhere!”
If this weekend is a success, the team plans another showcase of Black Isle food and drink suppliers and venues closer to Christmas.
